One of Us
by Th3RedPyro
Summary: Loki escapes his cell, however, something happened to him along the way. So, when he finally gets close enough to Tony for his revenge, it fails and Loki flees. As time passes, the tainted spell slowly makes Tony worse and it's a race against time to find Loki and have him undo it before it's too late because a bigger problem is on it's way… and only Tony's genius can save them. AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Arrival

Loki sat there in his cell. He has been there for the equivalent of almost one midgardian year. And in that time, his hatred towards Tony had grown bigger every passing day. From day one of his imprisonment to now, Loki had kept storing small amounts of his magic and all this saved up magic would go towards his plan to get his revenge on Tony. Now, all Loki needs to do is find the right moment to escape his cell. He has gone over several plans in his head, but in order for one of them to work, one of the guards has to enter with his next meal or the guards bring in another prisoner. All he had to do was wait. He had plenty of time for that, except it still annoys him to no end.

Time passed as Loki waited for one of the guards to come. He was in the middle of reading one of the books that were allowed in his cell for his entertainment… when he hears the doors open. Loki acts as if it didn't interest him who came in, but he did give many quick looks and saw that a guard did indeed come in, but they weren't alone, a prisoner from what looks to be a few realms away from Asgard, walked in front of the guard and had Asgardian-crafted handcuffs on. Loki smirked, now is the time he enacted his plan. Sitting up and placing the book on the floor, Loki walks over to the cell's barrier to get a better look at the new prisoner. As they passed his cell, Loki gives this newcomer a subtle nod, not wanting the guard to notice. Just before the prisoner was about to be placed in their cell, they whipped around and attacked the guard. With a few well placed hits, the guard was out cold. This prisoner walked over to Loki's cell, looked him over and spoke with a gruff voice. "That is what you were thinking of me to do, correct?"

"Yes, you did a splendid job." So far, Loki's plan was going well. Now all he had to do was have this man on his side. With his silver tongue, Loki is able to convince him to do what he wanted in a matter of minutes. The discussion they had lead to Loki knowing the name of his temporary ally, Ko-Vax. "See that row of levers over there. Pull the fourth one from the right and that should lift this barrier from this cell. I know of a few hidden passageways that will lead us safely and undetected away from here." Loki points to what he was referring to.

Ko-Vax, now knowing this and is in need of escaping Asgard, walks over to the levers and pulls the lever Loki said to pull, releasing Loki from his imprisonment. "Lead the way." Ko-Vax gestures to the doors leading to the rest of the palace. When he had entered the room where the Asgardians kept their prisoners, Ko-Vax hadn't expected to see Asgard's Prince Loki behind one of many cell's gold enchanted see-through walls. He had gone to Asgard to sabotage one of the meetings because he knew one of the people there would be there, but in the end, he was bested by Asgard's number one Prince, Thor. Ko-Vax never liked either one of the two Princes and had made sure to leave out a great deal of information when he talked with Loki.

As Ko-Vax follows close behind Loki on their way out of Asgard and to wherever else, he gets an idea in his head. Since he wasn't able to succeed in his task to ruin the meeting, perhaps Loki could take their place. So, when the both of them got to a certain point, he informed Loki they should stop and rest for a moment before continuing on. When Loki finally stopped, Ko-Vax caught up to him and pats his back strongly. "Much obliged, Loki." What Loki didn't notice when Ko-Vax patted his back is that once the hand made contact, a minor curse was placed on him. You would think that Loki would've detected it and avoided it, but Ko-Vax wasn't stupid, he had someone he knew place another spell to conceal it from detection.

He sat down on the nearest rock to rest. Ko-Vax took out a wooden container he made along the way to leave Asgard and had filled it from a small pond they came across, taking a few sips from it. "Would you like some water?" He extended out his arm that is holding the water to Loki, gently shaking the container, insisting him to take it because Loki looked like he needed it. "I think I shall pass on your offer, Ko-Vax. Where I plan to go, when we separate paths at our destination, will have plenty of water for me to obtain and consume." Loki held his hand up in front of the container as he said this. Maybe it was the odd feeling Loki was now noticing just now, but quickly shrugged it off and passed it off as something unimportant.

After waiting five minutes, Loki's patience had run out. They were supposed to leave Asgard in the least amount of time possible. Based on his observations of Ko-Vax while he rested, he surmised that Ko-Vax would want to rest for ten more minutes, of which they don't have. "You've rested long enough. We must continue." And with that, Loki resumed walking in the direction where he knows the hidden exit from Asgard is located, not caring if Ko-Vax followed or not. Loki's current goal is to go to Midgard to seek his revenge against Tony Stark, thus has more importance to be accomplished than waiting and the possibility of being placed in his cell once again. Ko-Vax must have seen his seriousness in his face because when Loki glances behind him, he sees Ko-Vax get off of the rock, place his water container away in one of the pouches he sees around Ko-Vax's belt, and follows him.

Soon, the two of them finally reach the location of the hidden portal exits. It was well hidden in a small cave entrance you'd have to stoop down to go through, just behind a big boulder sticking out from the ground a few feet in front of it; And, once inside, they no longer had to Inside the cave, up above, Ko-Vax immediately spots many glowing rocks and worms on the cave's ceiling. Loki then leads Ko-Vax about halfway deep into the cave before stopping, observing the cave wall in front of him. "This is it… and you're in luck, it appears another portal has presented itself right next to the one I desire to enter."

Ko-Vax walks over to Loki's left side to see what he's talking about. There, he sees two oval shaped shimmers on the wall, both only a foot and a half away from each other. He looks over at Loki and raises one of his eyebrows, gesturing to the portals as he speaks. "Which one is the one you plan to go through? And, where does the second portal lead?" Ko-Vax says this in a warning tone; he takes out his sword- that looked similar to a Khopesh Sword- out of its sheath a few inches, as a precaution.

Loki rolls his eyes at Ko-Vax. "Worry not, Ko-Vax. I will ease your mind. This portal here…" He points to the portal to the right. "This one is the portal I'll be leaving through, while the other…" Loki points to the portal on the left. "is yours to take. It will lead you to close to your realm." He further explains to Ko-Vax what he needs to know once he enters the left portal in order to get to his realm and is glad to see he puts his sword back into the sheath, Loki wasn't in the mood for a fight right now, especially when they are in a small cave with little space for them to have a proper fight. After he finishes explaining and not wanting to wait another second delaying his revenge on Tony Stark, he bids Ko-Vax farewell and enters the portal on the right.

Ko-Vax smirks and chuckles menacingly before he enters the portal to the left.

oOo

In no time at all, Loki makes it to Midgard in a matter of seconds. Apparently, the portal he took not only happened to send him precisely where he intended to go, Loki was only five blocks away from Tony Stark's Tower. After a moment to take it all in, he smiles sinisterly.

"Stark! I… have arrived!"

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 **A/N: I wanted to put more in this chapter, but I changed my mind and decided to put it in the next chapter.**

 **Oh! Btw, I'll now be working on my first four stories' third chapter, starting with Something Better.**

 **Don't worry, I'll never give up on any of my stories.**

 **Thanks for reading and please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Btw, this is set after the first Avengers movie and before the second. I'm gonna go by when the movies come out. I checked and they are three years apart, so since it is between movies. This is set two years after Avengers.**

 **Enjoy~!**

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Chapter 2: Spell

 **Two hours before Loki arrives**

Nobody knows how it started, but Tony and Steve began to have a heated argument and… Tony was losing. You could say it was because of a small comment from Steve, although some would say it escalated from Tony's usual narcissism, plus a few other small things that got that small snowball rolling down the hill into a huge massive Snowball. By the time Bruce came in to stop it, it was already too late, the damage has already been done and the final blow had already left Steve's lips. Steve, being oblivious at the worst times, hadn't noticed how hurt he made Tony and just walked off to his room after Bruce successfully stopped their fight. Tony, however, being the secretive sensitive man that he is, crumbled to the floor like Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall and breaking into pieces when he knew Steve was no longer in the room. Bruce immediately came to Tony's side after Steve left, trying to comfort Tony by bringing him to the couch and giving Tony the one thing that will help in this situation, hot chocolate. It is the only thing, other than coffee, that Tony likes. Bruce would've given Tony coffee, but he thought caffeine wouldn't do any good right now.

 **Half hour before Loki arrives**

Both Steve and Tony are angry with each other due to the argument they had not too long ago and did their best to ignore the other like they weren't there, even keeping themselves as far apart from each other as possible. For example, if Tony sat on one end if the long curved couch, then Steve would either sit at the opposite end or in the arm chair next to the end of the couch where Tony isn't. This has been going on for an hour and the others quickly began getting fed up with their actions. All except Thor because he had came in when Bruce was helping Tony to feel better, so right now he is confused why Steve and Tony are ignoring each other, looking at them in turn many times because he is sitting in the middle of the long curved couch.

 **Minutes until Loki arrives.**

All the Avengers were watching a movie together, but almost all of the group dispersed to varies areas of the Avenger's tower because the tension between the two became too much and instead of calling them out on it, they just left and not make it worse, if they accidentally said the wrong thing to set the progress Bruce made back to square one. Bruce wanted to stay with Tony, but he had something urgent he needed to attend to in his lab, which Tony had so graciously given his own. Steve left and went to the gym located on one of the floors of the Avengers Tower and so did Natasha, hoping to help him in any way she can to help things along. Thor had gone to another floor, where he knew the kitchen there has all the pop tarts. That left Clint in the room with Tony. Clint only stayed because he hasn't seen the movie they were all watching and wanted to see it until the end to know what happens. Once Tony knew Steve is no longer in the room, he went into the kitchen located in the back part of the room he's in and got himself a cup of coffee.

Suddenly, right when Tony is taking a sip of his coffee, the glass wall behind the TV broke into many pieces as someone bursted into the room through the glass wall. Tony unintentionally comically sprayed out that sip of coffee onto the counter in front of him. It wasn't because of the sudden sound of the glass, but of who had come in through it. It was none other than…

Loki!

Clint is also shocked to see Loki and reached behind him on instinct to grab an arrow to shoot Loki with, but came up empty because he usually took it off when he gets back to the Avenger's Tower after missions. He mentally cursed to himself as he now had to use the small throwing knives he keeps in his boots as a last resort. Before Clint could stand up after reaching for those knives, Loki used his magic to throw him across the room and hit the wall hard, dazing him. "You're in my way, Barton. I have no interest in you today." Loki didn't even bother to look at Clint because his sight is focused on one thing and one thing only- Tony. Loki has been waiting for this moment for what seems like forever to him. "Greetings, Stark. We meet again." The smile Loki has on his face right now could make a kid cry. All his planning should go without a hitch, but then he gets this uncomfortable feeling in his chest, except Loki ignores it.

"Uh… Jarvis? Any time now." Tony didn't have anything on him right now that would help him in this situation, not even the skill to use anything in the kitchen against Loki, like Natasha and Clint possess. He really wishes he had taken up on their offer to learn how to at least defend himself with everyday things around him- kinda like Jackie Chan.

" _Already on it, Sir. They will be at your location in a few minutes_." Jarvis chimed in, always ready to help Tony.

Tony frowned at hearing Jarvis say that. Based on how fast Loki is getting closer to him, a few minutes seem like hours. He could see the smirk on Loki's face. Did he know this would happen? Tony backed up and bumped into the counter behind him. "Shit!" Tony then tried his luck and run to where he knew the closest tech he has that will have some use as a distraction against Loki, but just as he was about to reach it, Loki uses his magic and throws him back into the room, hitting the armchair to the left of the curved couch. "You aren't going anywhere, Stark." He then lifts Tony into the air, between the floor and ceiling, having his arms and legs out like a starfish. Although, after a moment, Loki began to cough violently, causing him to drop Tony to the floor. Tony only was hurt a bit from the short fall because of him previously been thrown at an armchair not too long ago.

Loki didn't know where this coughing came from and this frightened him. Of course, he doesn't let his fear show on his face even though he's coughing right now. This coughing fit didn't last long and a new symptom appears. He didn't like what's happening to himself and thought back to how he got this way. It soon dawned on Loki that Ko-Vax would have been the only one to have done the deed of affecting him with this- this... sickness. Then Loki remembers feeling a small pinch sometime before entering the portal. That imbecile! He will have to deal with him later, but for now, he has to cast the spell on Tony before this sickness affects him much worse than he is now. So, Loki begins to chant the spell in his head and moves his arms a certain way, building up the magical energy to successfully cast his spell onto Tony. Usually, most of his spells didn't need to use these extra steps, but this was no ordinary spell and is required to have them.

Right when his spell is nearly completed, Loki could hear footsteps rushing towards the room both Tony and himself are in. Loki gave a smug smile as his spell is ready to be cast as he starts to see the rest of the team beginning to enter the room. His smug smile never left his face as Tony's teammates stopped when they entered the room and saw the sight before them. Clint, at this point, is trying to stand.

"Loki! Leave now or you will regret it!" Steve declared, his shield ready to be thrown at Loki. He could see Tony on the floor, clearly in pain, but not too much based on Tony's facial expression and body language.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that, Rogers. I have some unfinished business with Stark." Loki had looked directly at Steve when he said this. He feels another coughing fit coming on, so as to not waste any more time, he casts the spell on Tony. Green smoke and tendrils form around Tony, enveloping him, however... there is some purple streaks along with it. The team couldn't see any part of their teammate, but they could hear him yelp, followed by other unpleasant noises. "Tony!" This is said in almost perfect unison by the team. They all focused their attention at the green smoke surrounding Tony. About ten seconds later, the green smoke is accompanied by purple streaks. When they did look back at Loki, he is already gone. With how long they've been a team, a bond has already formed between all of them despite them fighting with each other every once in awhile. So, when any of them sees another teammate hurt, they feel the need to help.

Since Loki is now gone, there is no threat to distract them from helping their teammate and make their way over to where Tony is. As the team closes the gap between them and Tony, they see the green smoke and purple streaks that surrounds Tony soon disappear to reveal him laying there unconscious. Bruce is the first one there and begins to examine him, since he knows more about health than the others. "As far as I can tell, nothing seems wrong with him physically, but I'll have to run some tests to see if there is any internal changes that Loki's magic has caused." Bruce stated as he looked at everyone, then stopped when his eyes went to Steve. "Please help me carry him to the infirmary, Steve."

Steve didn't hesitate to come to Bruce's aid in helping Tony. Tony may be a pain in the butt and gets on his nerves too many times, but Tony is still part of the team and has helped them on many missions with his gadgets. Even though the two of them recently had a fight, Steve pushes aside his current emotions as Steve and be the Leader of the group as Captain America. Steve carefully picks Tony up and follows after Bruce to the infirmary, the rest of the team follows behind as well- Clint trailing behind after finally snapping out of his dazed state. Each floor of the Tower has their own purpose, so they had to go to the floor below them, which is the location of the infirmary.

One quick elevator ride later and they make it to the infirmary in record time, thanks to Jarvis for having the elevator go quicker than usual, but not as fast to harm them. Once Steve laid Tony down on one of the beds in the infirmary, Bruce kicked everyone out, so as to not crowd the room and began running his tests to see if there is anything wrong with Tony. With magic you can't be too sure, so Bruce wants to cover all his bases. He knows Tony is unconscious, but for some reason as he looks at his friend, it doesn't seem that way and it's like he's in a deep sleep. It took a few minutes to finish one test and the result for it is negative. Bruce sighed. One test down… many more to go. He began to run the second test.

Outside the infirmary, the rest of the team is waiting in the next room over, hoping those tests Bruce is doing will have some positive results. They also know magic is out of their knowledge of expertise, so once there idea doesn't work, they will search for someone who can.

After the fifth test resulted is negative again, Bruce paused for a moment and looked at Tony's unconscious form. "Hang in there, Tony."

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading and please review.**


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